


Night of the Living Sleepwalkers

by knitsforthetrail



Series: Oneshots and Drabbles [4]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Arguing, Confusion, Gen, Misunderstandings, Neighbors, Sleepwalking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-13
Updated: 2017-09-13
Packaged: 2018-12-27 17:31:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12085893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knitsforthetrail/pseuds/knitsforthetrail
Summary: Seung gil's new neighbor has an interesting habit





	Night of the Living Sleepwalkers

Seung gil was a man of organization and routine. His books were organized by height, his dishes all a uniform white and stacked in the cupboard, and his shirts all hung in color order. He disliked spontaneity, and if an event was not on his calendar he wouldn’t be found there. He disliked surprises, so social events were planned weeks in advance, specific time slots and reservations in place. His daily routine had remained as consistent as possible over the years and he would have had it no other way.

That’s why, at 11:05 pm on a Tuesday, he was surprised by a strange shuffling on the other side of his door. No visitors were scheduled that day, and he had no packages to expect. Slight frown on his face, Seung gil peered through the peep hole in the door, groaning at the sight of the man on his porch. It was his new neighbor, who had recently moved into the apartment above his. Seung gil had adamantly avoided contact with the chipper man. His old neighbor had been an elderly man who quietly went about his own business, and the two had grown a routine of silently nodding at one another at the mailbox every morning. This new man, however, seemed like the type to spontaneously watch bad action movies at two in the morning and pound around to loud pop music, and he had no desire whatsoever to be acquainted with such a person. 

He cracked the door open when it became apparent the guy wasn’t going to leave, and in his trademark monotone, mumbled, “What can I do for you?” 

His neighbor stood there staring at Seung gil just long enough to make him uncomfortable, then drunkenly lurched to the side and slurred something he couldn’t quite hear. 

Seung-gil rolled his eyes at the obviously drunk man, but he had been raised a gentleman and grit his teeth against the task of escorting the man to his apartment. He draped the neighbor’s arm over his shoulder and looped his own around the man’s torso, and the two slowly made their way up the staircase to the apartment. The door was hanging wide open, solving the issue of looking for a key, and Seung gil rolled his eyes at the irresponsible young man. The inside of the apartment was still full of moving boxes, only the bare minimum had been unpacked. The awkwardness of the situation was apparent to Seung gil, but he nevertheless escorted the man to his bed and left quickly, closing the door on his way out. He decided as he brushed his teeth that if the other man didn’t, Seung gil would never bring the incident up again. 

The next night, however, brought the stumbling neighbor back to his doorstep, as well as the next night and the one after that. He began to suspect something was different with the situation, that the man couldn’t reasonably get so drunk every night, and set down for research after escorting the man home for the fourth time. He searched google for answers and came up with a series of videos of sleepwalkers. They all acted as his neighbor had, eyes half-lidded and stumbling slowly like they had one too many drinks at the bar. Their voices came out slurred, often talking nonsense, even sometimes responding to questions. 

The neighbor seemed unlikely to cease his sleepwalking, and it became an integrated part of Seung gil’s routine. Every night he would work until the telltale shuffling at the door would pick up, always within five minutes of 11:03. He would escort the man up to the apartment, then retire to his own bed for the night. When it became apparent the other man held no recollection of their nightly ritual, Seung gil found himself taking advantage of the company. He engaged in meaningless conversation or told the man, Phichit, about his day or what happened in the news that morning, or about the new book he got from the library. He had spotted the name on a package outside the man’s door one night, and started referring to him by his rightful name. It was better than referring to him as ‘the man’ anyway. 

One evening months after the nightly ritual began, as he poured over some manuscripts from his publishing company, he heard steps approach his apartment. Glancing at the clock, Seung-gil noted the time was only 10:58, relatively early, but he had noticed a headache coming on and decided a few minutes wouldn’t make much difference anyway. He hurried to the door, opening it as his neighbor reached the landing, and gave his equivalent of a smile. Seung gil had a pot of water on the stove, planning on some tea before bedtime, and was more in a hurry than usual as such. 

He grabbed Phichit’s elbow and steered him back to the stairs, launching into a soft recount of his day. As they went up Seung gil focused on the door at the top of the stairs, talking softly about a cute husky he had seen downtown. Reaching the landing, he paused and voiced what he had been wanting to say for a while, something that meant a lot to him yet was also surprising, “Someday, Phichit, I hope to meet you when you’re not sleepwalking.” 

But rather than the silence that usually met him, a rather startling sputtering sounded out from the man beside him and a new voice spoke, nothing like the mumbling voice of the sleepwalker. In a chipper tone laced with shock Phichit spoke, for the first time in months, “What the hell! I came to tell you your car lights were on!” he jerked his arm out of a stunned Seung gil’s grip, “And what was that?! You c-can’t just drag me about, what are you, some kind of creep!?” 

Seung gil fought to recover his voice, remedy the situation somehow, “I thought you were sleepwalking again,” 

Phichit’s face contorted into disbelief. Oh no, Seung gil thought, it didn’t work. “What do you mean, ‘again’? I don’t sleepwalk!” 

No matter how embarrassed he was, Seung gil’s biggest pet peeve was people calling him a liar. Determination set in, face devoid of emotion in the way he knew intimidated people, “Well then what’s the explanation? I’ve been walking you to your apartment every night for months! I have security tapes full of it, so you can’t just say I’m lying when I hold all the proof.” 

Phichit looked as surprised as he felt at the outburst, “Well, I…Show me the tapes!” and he stomped back down the stairs, snagging Seung gil’s hand and pulling him along as well. 

Seung gil placed mugs of tea on the counter for the both of them while Phichit perched on his living room couch, watching through the collection of videos. He had amassed quite the collection, all of them showing the same thing repeated over and over again. 

Eventually his neighbor joined him on the stools, bashfully avoiding his gaze. Seung gil finally broke the silence, pushing the mug closer to Phichit with a simple question, “tea?” 

The other man took it gratefully, throwing back a mouthful before speaking, “Look, I’m sorry for yelling at you, and it’s nice that you’ve been helping me home every night, but why didn’t you tell me about this months ago when it first started?” 

“It never occurred to me.” Seung gil thought of himself as a logical person, yet he had not even entertained that his neighbor would be unaware of his condition given the magnitude of the case. The two silently finished their drinks, and Seung gil showed Phichit to the door. 

For an awkward moment, it seemed as though neither were going to say anything, until Phichit spoke up, “I would appreciate it,” he carefully stated, “if you’d let me know if this continues.” His eyes searched Seung gil’s face, not quite trusting. 

Seung gil nodded his affirmation and Phichit turned to go, tossing a soft “goodnight” over his shoulder. He shut the door and stood there a minute, then went to prepare for bed, with a lot on his mind. His car wouldn’t start the next morning. 

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry, I've never really written these characters so I'm sure the characterization was all off
> 
> This was low-key based off a prompt but again, I haven't been able to find it again.


End file.
